Reflections

Regarding what threatens the wetlands

Today, the large productive activities are what threatens the wetlands as ecosystems. The bull’s eye is not the debate, as some want us to believe that is “production yes” versus “production no,” but rather it is about how much we produce and how. Ecological organizations may often be referred to as those who oppose production, but it is not like that. We want production, and one that can be done now and 100 years from now, that is, the business needs to be sustainable, in economic terms but also social and environmentally. If we exploit the wetland and we cannot grant continuity to the ecosystems that live within it, we will end up without the eco-systemic services that it provides us, which are thousands and are those that make life possible.

Federico Pellegrino

Regarding the impact of agro and cattle financial business

Before, an enterprise was a family business for many years and the family had interest in the conservation of the business and its territory; being either a field or a factory. When everything is left in the hands of financial businesses, that changes, the financial business buys or rents such territory, produces as much as possible, and wants the maximum profit. They even make studies at the political level (for example, how much can a favorable government last?). As with mining, they apply an extractionist policy at maximum level. They want profits in the shortest period possible and how the territory ends up is not important for them. Different it is if you buy your own farm to work it. Then, you will find out which is the best fertilizer because you do not want to contaminate the town where you live, for example. However, financial capitals have another logic. It is not that they do not know wat they are doing, they have climate information, data from government agencies regarding the evolution of the humidity of the soil, etc., but the long term does not matter to them. That is why an adequate legislation is necessary, as well, as a control commitment to achieve sustainability.

Roberto Kokot

Regarding “Funes el memorioso” (Borges’ short story about Funes who remembered)

Funes not only remembered every leaf of each tree of each bush, but also each of the times that he had perceived or imagined each of them. However, I suspect that he was not much capable of thinking. Thinking is to forget differences, generalize, make abstractions. In Funes’ crowded world, there was nothing but details.

Jorge Luis Borges (quoted by Sergio Zabalza)